BEST EVER Carrot Cake

My love for carrot cake runs very deep. In my opinion, it’s the best cake flavor and should not only be limited to one season but that’s a conversation for another time. But THIS carrot cake recipe RIGHT HERE is the absolute best. It’s incredibly moist, perfectly spiced, and coated in a simple cream cheese frosting. It doesn’t get much better than that. 

How to make carrot cake from scratch

If you’ve never had homemade carrot cake, meaning not from a box or pre-made, then get ready to have your mind blown. You’ll be making carrot cake from scratch every year from here on out.

It starts, very obviously, with the carrots. Do not buy the bags of pre-shredded carrots as those aren’t grated finely enough. Also make sure to buy organic carrots. I find they have much better flavor and texture than regular.

Start by rinsing and pealing your large carrots (not baby carrots). Using a box grater, grate using the second largest holes. You’re wanting it to grate like a fine shredded cheese.

It takes about 5 large carrots to get the amount you need. Once you fill up 2 1/2 cups worth, set it aside.

What spices are in carrot cake?

Next, we want to whisk together the dry ingredients. Carrot cake is typically made with a combination of warm spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger. It closely resembles a spice cake but with more moisture from the carrots.

For this carrot cake recipe, we’re using cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove. I found this combination lended the best flavor. Whisk together in a bowl along with salt, flour, and baking soda.

How to make a moist carrot cake WITHOUT pineapple

A little trick some like to do with their carrot cake is add some crushed pineapple. It adds tons of moisture but I like to have that carrot flavor stand alone. So here’s what I do to make a SUPER moist carrot cake without any fruit!

The two simple ingredients that makes this cake amazing are the oil and Greek yogurt. I love using oil in cakes because not only does it make your cake moist, but it also STAYS moist for much longer than if you used butter.

That’s because oil is 100% fat where butter is around 80%. But, it’s important to use butter in cakes that don’t have other flavors included.

For example, we use butter in a plain vanilla cake because you’re able to actually taste the flavor of the butter. Otherwise, it would just taste like an oil cake. Since we’re using carrots and spices in this cake, you don’t notice the oil flavor and get to reap all the benefits of its delicious texture.

Greek yogurt also adds to the perfect texture of this cake. Most cakes might use buttermilk or whole milk. Because I’m using Greek yogurt, it makes the cake moist without making it too soft. If it’s too soft, it might fall apart when stacking.

Baking your carrot cake

Once we’ve mixed together the sugars, eggs, oil, vanilla, Greek yogurt, carrots, and dry ingredients…your cake is ready to bake!

I used 3 round 6″ cake pans for this recipe. You could also use 3 round 8″ pans but reduce the time by about 8 minutes and keep an eye on it until it’s done.

To get the PERFECT carrot cake layers, I love to use cake strips. You dampen and wrap them around the cake pans before baking.

This prevents the outside of the pan from heating up too quickly, thus lending a cake that is evenly baked all the way through. Plus, it gives you flat cake layers so you don’t have to slice anything off the tops.

It’s done when the edges start to pull away from the pan and a toothpick stuck in the center of the cake comes out clean with a few moist crumbs.

How to frost and speckle your cake

First and foremost, do not frost your cake until it is COMPLETELY cooled. After they’ve cooled in the pan, pop them onto a cooling rack for about 20 minutes. Then, wrap your layers in plastic wrap and place them in the fridge for at least 1 hour. This makes stacking your cake much easier.

When frosting the cake, spread about 1/2-3/4 cup of frosting between each layer. Once stacked, place it in the fridge for 20-30 minutes so that the frosting layers can firmed up.

Continue frosting the outside of your cake. Smooth out your sides and pipe some extra frosting swirls on top. Place the cake back in the fridge for another 30 minutes.

To get that specked look, you’ll need some cocoa powder and vanilla extract. Mix the two together and use a pastry brush to splatter it on.

I like to dip my brush, press it against the edge of the bowl to drain out any express, then treat it like a whip to splatter the cake, holding it a few inches away.

When the brush starts to lose some of the cocoa mixture, use your finger and run it across the edge of the bristles. This creates much smaller speckles so you can get a variety of sizes and textures.

For more cake recipes:

• Cookie Dough Cake
• Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes
• Spice Cake with Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
• New York Style Cheesecake

Make sure to tag me @butternutbakery on Instagram if you make this Carrot Cake recipe. I love seeing my recipes come to life in YOUR kitchen! To pin this recipe and save it for later, you can use the button on the recipe card, the buttons above or below this post, or on any of the photos above. Happy baking!

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BEST EVER Carrot Cake

★★★★★ 5 from 4 reviews

• Author: Jenna | Butternut Bakery
• Prep Time: 1 hour
• Cook Time: 40 minutes
• Total Time: 5 hours
• Yield: 6 inch layer cake 1x

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Description

This is truly the BEST EVER carrot cake recipe. It’s incredibly moist, perfectly spiced, and smothered in cream cheese frosting. It’s the only carrot cake recipe you’ll ever need!

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Ingredients

Carrot Cake

• 2 1/2 cups finely grated organic carrots
• 2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned into the cups then leveled
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp clove
• 1 cup vegetable or canola oil
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup Greek yogurt

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temp
• 12 oz cream cheese, room temp
• 4–5 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Speckles

• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp cocoa powder

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Instructions

Carrot Cake

1. Wash and peal your carrots. Grate them using the medium-sized holes on a box grater. It should resemble very finely shredded cheese. Measure out 2 1/2 cups into a bowl then set aside.
2. Preheat the oven to to 350F and grease 3 round 6″ cake pans. Line the bottoms with parchment paper then coat the inside with some flour. Dump out the excess.
3. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove. Set aside.
4. In a large bowl, whisk together the oil and sugars.
5. Once combined, mix in the eggs, vanilla, and Greek yogurt.
6. Fold in your dry ingredients and just before it comes together, fold in the carrots as well.
7. Wrap your cake pans in cake strips (optional but highly recommended) and evenly distribute your batter between the three pans.
8. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs.
9. Let the cakes cool in the pan for about 20 minutes then turn them out onto a cooling rack to cool for another 20 minutes.
10. Wrap each layer individually in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 1 hour. Chilling the layers makes it much easier to frost.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1. While the cake chills, make your frosting. Using the whisk attachment on an electric mixer, cream together the butter and cream cheese. Both should be soft at room temperature.
2. Mix in the powdered sugar one cup at a time and then the vanilla.

Speckles

1. If needed, level out the tops of your cake layers once they’ve chilled.
2. To frost your cake, spread about 1/2-3/4 cup of frosting between each layer. Then chill for about 20 minutes.
3. Once the frosting layers have set, frost the outside of the cake. Place it back in the fridge for another 20-30 minutes.
4. Mix together the vanilla and cocoa and use a pastry brush to splatter on the speckles. I recommend practicing on a plate until you get a feel for the technique.
5. Serve right away or keep in the fridge for up to 4 days. Enjoy!

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Keywords: carrot cake, best ever carrot cake, carrot cake recipe

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